Method for playing multi-level games of chance

ABSTRACT

A method for playing a multi-level game of chance wherein players can advance to the next level with a win. As the game progresses through levels, non-winning players are eliminated and winning players are segregated by type of win. In general, each level provides greater winnings. In another example game format, a progressive jackpot may also be offered.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/832,071, filed Aug. 1, 2007, entitled “METHOD FOR PLAYINGMULTI-LEVEL GAMES OF CHANCE” by Scott Weller and Matthew Ross, whichclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/835,142, entitled “METHOD FOR PLAYING MULTI-LEVEL GAMES OFCHANCE,” filed Aug. 1, 2006, both of which applications are incorporatedby reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the games of chance and, moreparticularly, to methods of playing multi-level keno.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Legalized public and private bingo games abound in the United States andthroughout the world. Bingo-type games involve a plurality ofparticipants each having at least one pre-printed playing card.Typically, bingo playing cards comprise five columns, corresponding tothe letters “B”, “I”, “N”, “G” and “O”, whence the game derives itsname, and five rows in a boxed matrix. Numbers and/or free spacespopulate the boxes in the matrix.

The game of bingo is played by randomly selecting winning numbers from apopulation of numbers. In a traditional bingo game, a participant winswhen a combination of selected winning numbers covers at least one row,column, and/or diagonal of five numbers on at least one participant'splaying card. However in many bingo games, numerous other patterns thathave been predetermined may also be used for winning; these patternsinclude those known as Hard Way (five-in-a-row without using the freespot), Six Pack (2×3 or 3×2 matrix), or Small Kite. When a participantcovers a winning pattern with winning numbers, he or she declares“Bingo!” Verification of the win occurs immediately and if the win isverified, the game ends and no further numbers are drawn. Generally,there is only a single winner for each game. If there are multiplewinners, the prize is divided equally among all winners.

Keno is another type of legalized public and private game common in theUnited States and throughout the world. Keno-type games typically drawnumerous (e.g., 15 to 20) random winning numbers from a largerpopulation of numbers, e.g., integers from 1 to 80. Indeed, keno-typegames typically select more winning numbers from the population ofnumbers than are required to win.

For example, to play keno, a player may select a minimum of four and nomore than 10 numbers between 1 and 80. Each selection is called a“spot,” so if one selects ten numbers, one is playing a ten spot game.The player marks a blank keno card with the selected numbers, hands inthe ticket (e.g., to a clerk at a casino, as discussed below) andreceives a duplicate ticket in return. Typically about twenty winningnumbers are selected from the population of numbers and gameparticipants may win a prize if they match anywhere between zero and tenof the winning numbers. Thus, a game participant still can win the topprize without having to match all, or even any, of the winning numbersdrawn. Keno-type games typically produce numerous opportunities to matchwinning numbers and thus many opportunities to win.

Moreover, keno-type games are flexible because game participants canchoose how many winning numbers they want to try to match in each game,for example two, five, ten, etc. Correspondingly, prizes (e.g., cashjackpots) are greater when more numbers must be, and ultimately are,matched. Keno prizes generally increase commensurate with the odds ofmatching all player chosen numbers. For example, the prize for matchingfive out of five player chosen numbers may be five times greater thanthe prize for matching two out of two player chosen numbers.

Keno is typically played in casinos and in state lotteries. Casinos sellkeno tickets to players at special counters or through wandering kenoticket sellers. A player can play more than one keno game on a ticket,and need not be present in the casino while the keno games are beingrun. The player can come back and see if he or she won any games. If theplayer has won, a keno ticket can be redeemed for winnings in thecasino. Keno games run by state lotteries sell and redeem tickets in asimilar manner to casinos, with specified lottery sales locations, e.g.bars and restaurants, replacing the special keno ticket counters. Kenotickets can also be redeemed at these points of sale.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present invention, a game of chance isprovided. The game comprises of two or more levels. According to oneembodiment of the invention, the game may be one of the group comprisingof keno, bingo, UK bingo, and baccarat. According to another embodiment,the game may be a combination of two or more of the group comprising ofkeno, bingo, UK bingo, and baccarat. According to another embodiment,all levels have the same payout table. According to another embodiment,one or more levels have a different payout table than the first level.According to another embodiment, one or more levels have multiple payouttables. According to another embodiment, the number of levels ispre-determined. According to another embodiment, winners of the top tierin the final level can win at least one of the group standard, aprogressive, and a rolling jackpot. According to another embodiment,winners of the top tier in the final level must win a final drawing towin the at least one of the group comprising the standard, theprogressive, and the rolling jackpot.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, only one bet atthe start of the game is needed to pay to play. According to anotherembodiment, winners of each tier are required to play the next tier.According to another embodiment, the winnings are paid out after eachtier. According to another embodiment, the winnings are paid out only atthe end of the game. According to another embodiment, the game operatoris a casino. According to another embodiment, the game operator is atleast one of a state and a national lottery. According to anotherembodiment, a player may enter into the game after a first level of thetwo or more levels by paying a bet greater than an initial bet to playthe first level of the two or more levels. According to anotherembodiment, a player may enter into the game after the first level ofthe two or more levels by paying a bet greater than a sum of the initialbet plus the carryover(s) to get to the level being entered. Accordingto another embodiment, odds of winning decrease as a level of the two ormore levels is increased. According to another embodiment, theindividual payout is increased as a level of the two or more levels isincreases. According to one aspect of the present invention, a methodfor operating a game of chance is provided, wherein the game of chancehas two or more levels.

The function and advantage of these and other embodiments of the presentinvention will be more fully understood from the examples describedbelow. The following examples are intended to illustrate the benefits ofthe present invention, but do not exemplify the full scope of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is an illustrative embodiment of a general-purpose computersystem upon which various aspects of the present invention may bepracticed;

FIG. 2 is an illustrative embodiment of a computer data storage system;

FIG. 3 is an illustrative embodiment of several components of a gamecomputer system;

FIG. 4 is an illustrative embodiment of several components of a gamepayment subsystem according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustrative embodiment of several components of a gamepayout subsystem according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an illustrative embodiment of several components of a gameplaying and viewing subsystem; according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is an illustrative embodiment of a flow of winners through agame;

FIG. 8 is another illustrative embodiment of a flow of winners through agame;

FIG. 9 is an illustrative embodiment showing an example percentage ofwinners and losers in a game example; and

FIG. 10 is an illustrative embodiment of a game card according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments and aspects of the invention relate generally to new methodsfor playing multi-level games of chance including keno and bingo. Thoughstandard games of chance are popular, existing games of chance have somedeficiencies including that each game has only one level and thusfinishes quickly without having time for the player to build excitementduring the game.

Therefore, aspects of the present invention address the above-identifiedproblem and provide a more exciting play experience for games of chance,as discussed in more detail below. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, the game of chance may be any game of chance including keno,bingo, UK bingo, slots, poker, dominoes, and blackjack. According toanother embodiment of the present invention, all the levels in themulti-level game of chance need not be the same game of chance.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a game of chance has two ormore levels as illustrated in FIG. 7. According to another embodiment,winners of each level in the game of chance may progress to the nextlevel in the game of chance. Upon winning, a winner may be given achoice as to whether to proceed to the next level. Preferably, a winnermust proceed to the next level. As illustrated in level 1 of FIG. 7, alevel may have only one winner tier. The winners of this level may moveon to level 2 as one group. However, as illustrated in level 2 of FIG.7, winners may be divided into two or more tiers. For example, all thewinners may proceed to level 3 as one group or preferably as illustratedin FIG. 2, the winners of each tier may proceed to the next level as agroup for each winner tier. According to an embodiment of the invention,each level in the game of chance may have one or more winner tiers.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a game may have tocontinue to another level until only one individual is left in the topwinning tier. Preferably, in another embodiment, a game has apre-determined number of levels.

According to another embodiment of the invention, any player in the topwinning tier in the last level of the game may be offered a chance towin a final prize. This final prize may be a progressive jackpot thatmay or may not be split between all final chance winners. If no finalchance winner exists, the jackpot may roll over to the next game.

A typical keno ticket shows all the possible elements in a grid orpattern with the elements a player has chosen being highlighted orotherwise differentiated from the elements that have not been chosen.The typical keno ticket also indicates the keno games that the player isplaying and may also indicate when the last game ends.

According to one embodiment, a game may have a predetermined payouttable associated with it. The payout table may have a listing of theways to obtain a payout and its payout amount. For example for keno, thepossible ways to obtain a payout include matching all, some, or none ofthe player chosen elements with the randomly chosen winning elements fora specific keno game. The payout amount for each way to win may dependupon but may not be rigidly determined by the odds of obtaining theparticular way to obtain a payout in the predetermined fixed number ofdrawn winning elements; for example, the odds of matching ten playerchosen elements with twenty winning elements drawn may be twice that fortwenty player chosen elements, but the payout may be only one and onehalf times higher for matching the twenty player elements chosen versusten player chosen elements.

The payout table may also have adjustments for a player's subscription.For instance, the payout may increase if the player has a multiple gamesubscription or high payment per game. The payout may also be adjustedfor numerous other criterion including frequent player credits. Ofcourse, all payout adjustments must meet any legal requirements for thegaming jurisdiction in which the game is played.

According to an embodiment of the invention, each level in a game mayalso have an associated payout table. The following tables illustratepossible payout tables for a three-level keno game. In thisillustration, the bet increases and the odds of winning the top prizedecrease with each successive level. Level 1 has only one winning andone losing tier. Level 2 has two winning tiers and one loss tier. Eachwinning tier in Level 2 proceeds to a different payout table in thethird level; the top winning tier proceeds to Level 3 a and the lowerwinning tier proceeds to Level 3 b.

Payout Table- Level 1 Size of Field 2 Number of Draws 1 Max Catch 1 Bet$5.00 Catch Keno Probability Payout 1 50% $8.00 0 50% -0- Probability ofWinning = 50%

Payout Table- Level 2 Size of Field 5 Number of Draws 2 Max Catch 2 Bet$6.00 Catch Keno Probability Payout 2 10% $20.00 1 60%  $5.00 0 30% -0-Probability of Winning = 70%

Payout Table- Level 3a Size of Field 15 Number of Draws 5 Max Catch 5Bet $17.00 Catch Keno Probability Payout 5 0.03% $25,000.00 4 1.67%  $250.00 3 14.99%    $10.00 2 39.96% -0- 1 34.97% -0- 0 8.39%    $10.00Probability of Winning = 24.68%

Payout Table- Level 3b Size of Field 15    Number of Draws 5   Max Catch5   Bet $3.00 Catch Keno Probability Payout 5 0.03% $5,000.00 4 1.67%  $20.00 3 14.99%    $2.00 2 39.96% -0- 1 34.97% -0- 0 8.39%    $2.00Probability of Winning = 24.68%

FIG. 9 illustrates an example percentage of players that may be expectedto obtain the different outcomes in each level of the above examplebased upon statistics.

FIG. 10 is an example of a game card that a player may use to enter agame. The game card shown is illustrative of the game example above. Aplayer may submit his or her picks for each level by marking choices foreach level, i.e. choose one out of two number choices for Level 1, twoout of five choices for Level 2, and five out of fifteen choices forLevel 3.

As shown in FIG. 8, a winning tier may include more than one way tomatch numbers. For example in Level 3 a, matches of 3, 4 or none out of5 numbers drawn from 15 total lead to the same winning tier for the nextlevel.

Bets for the multi-level game of chance may be covered in any knownmanner. A player may decide to or is required to pay the bet required tomove to the next level upon winning. A payout of the last level won maybe fully or partially used or may not be used at all by the player topay for the bet at the next level. According to an embodiment of theinvention, a player may pay one bet to play a level, with winnings fullyor partially carrying on to the next level.

For the payout tables in the three-level keno game illustrated above, awinnings table may be as shown below with a portion of the winnings froma level being used to pay the bet for the next level. In the illustratedwinnings table, each player pays $5.00 to play a game. In an embodimentof the invention, the odds of winning decreases as the level increases.In another embodiment of the invention, the individual payout increasesas the level increases.

Winnings Table Level Keno Game Bet Win Scenarios 1 Pick 1, Draw 1 of 2 $5.00 Win $8.00: Keep $2.00, Carryover $6.00 2 Pick 2, Draw 5  $6.00Win $20.00: Keep $3.00, Carryover $17.00; Win $5.00: Keep $2.00,Carryover $3.00 3a Pick 5, Draw 15 $17.00 Win as shown in payout table3b Pick 5, Draw 15  $3.00 Win as shown in payout table

Prior to playing a multi-level game of chance, a game player may need topay for playing. For example, a game player may pay using money orloyalty points. In particular, a game player may pay using money bydebit card, credit card, check, cash or account credit either with thegaming operator or an affiliated organization. Alternatively, a gameplayer may pay using loyalty points from an account held either by thegaming operator or by an affiliated organization. Loyalty points may beobtained from any type of organization but are generally associated withloyalty programs such as frequent flier programs for airlines, frequentstay programs for hotels, or frequent visitor programs for casinos. Thegame player may pay in person using a cashier (e.g., at a casino or astate lottery agent).

Typically, a player may pay to play before the first level is played ina game. However according to an embodiment of the invention, a playermay pay to enter any level of the game. The player may be new to thegame or may have lost in an earlier level of the same game. According toanother embodiment of the invention, a player paying to enter a gameabove the first level may be expected to pay more than the initial betrequired for the first level of the game or to pay more than theaggregate of the initial bet plus the carryovers for players winningfrom all lower levels to get to the present level. In the exampleillustrated above, a player entering into level 3 a may be expected topay more than $5.00, the entry fee to level 1, or to pay more than$28.00 ($5.00+$6.00+$17.00).

In one embodiment of the invention, players may subscribe to playmultiple consecutive game sessions. That is, the player pays at one timeto play many consecutive games. The player may also choose to have hisor her subscription automatically renewed.

According to one embodiment of the invention, players may also enter toplay the multi-level game of chance using an alternative method of entry(AMOE). AMOE is a required available method of entry into a sweepstakesthat does not require a purchase. Sweepstakes are usually used as apromotional or marketing tool. Any company or organization offering asweepstakes ticket in exchange for a purchase is typically required toalso offer an AMOE to the sweepstakes that is not linked to a purchase.

A common AMOE method includes requiring an individual interested inentering the sweepstakes, to the sweepstakes entity a postcard with hisor her name, address, or other contact information. Another AMOE methodincludes requiring an individual to sign on to a free Internet websiteand to submit the required information for free. Numerous other methodsmay be used for AMOE. Most sweepstakes limit the number of times oneindividual or family may enter a sweepstakes by AMOE. An individualentering a sweepstakes by AMOE is required by law to have the same oddsof winning each of the available prizes as do individuals who have paidfor entry (e.g., by making a purchase of a product or service).

According to one embodiment of the invention, it is realized that anAMOE (alternative method of entry) may be used to enter a multi-levelgame of chance. More particularly, it is possible to develop, implementand run the game(s) of this invention with an AMOE method of entry as isusually associated with sweepstakes. An individual may enter the game byAMOE using the postcard or the online methods outlined above. The gameplayer entering by AMOE has the same odds to win the payout associatedwith the game in which they are entered as do any other players who havepaid for entry. The game player entering by AMOE may also be limited toa small number of game sessions within a given period of time. Forexample, the game player may be limited to entering one game in one yearor two games in one month. Other numbers of games and given periods maybe any number, and the invention is not limited to any particularimplementation.

According to one embodiment, the game session that the game playerentering by AMOE is entered into may be determined by the game player onthe AMOE entry form. For example, the post card AMOE may be required tostate the date and the time of the game session that the game playerwants to enter. Alternatively, the game entered may be the next startinggame session after the AMOE is received and logged. As anotheralternative, AMOE entries may be assigned to a specific game(s) eachhour, day, week, or other time interval.

The payout table for each game may also be supplemented by a jackpotthat transfers from game session to game session until the jackpot ispaid out. These types of jackpots are commonly called rolling orprogressive jackpots. A rolling jackpot may be the same amount thattransfers from game to game until it is paid out. A progressive jackpotis a rolling jackpot that increases as more game, game cards, or othercriterion are played. According to an embodiment of the invention, asingle-game, progressive, or rolling jackpot may be won by winners ofthe top winning tier in the final level. According to another embodimentof the invention, the jackpot may be won only through a final chancedetermination.

The payout in each tier may also be affected as to whether the game hasa fixed payout for each winning tier or whether the payout is shared. Ifthe payout is fixed for a win, all players that have a tier winner for acertain type of win will be paid the amount listed in the payout tablefor the win; in this instance, each player is playing solely against thegame operator. If the payout is shared, then all players that have agame winner for a certain type of tier win will be paid a total of theamount listed in the payout table. Each player may receive a share ofthe total payout depending upon how much he or she paid for the game orany other legal criteria.

The final payout may also be affected by a secondary bonus play. Bonusplay is well known in the gaming industry and works to increase somepayouts by offering the chance to multiply a payout.

One or more games may proceed concurrently; the parameters of theconcurrent games may be the same, similar, or different. For example,the drawn winning elements may be used for one or more concurrent gamesif the predetermined set of elements is the same for the one or moreconcurrent games.

Additionally, the games may run continually, i.e. one after another.When one game ends, another can begin immediately or in a short periodof time thereafter. The games may follow a precise time schedule so thatplayers know when games will begin. For example, if game play in a gamerequires four and a half (4.5) minutes to complete, then the next gamemay start immediately or in a defined period (e.g., thirty seconds) tomaintain a schedule of games sessions. For example, game sessions mayoccur every hour, on the hour, and at every five minutes in between(i.e., at :00, :05, :10, :15, :20, :25, :30, :35, :40, :45, :50, :55 ofeach hour). Because, according to one embodiment, the game sessions mayrun continually, it may be possible that a game will have no game playeror game card that is being played within the particular game session orinstance.

Prior to a game, the game player may choose from the predetermined setof elements for a particular game. A game player may choose the elementsfor trying to match the drawn winning elements for a game manually orusing a computer system. Alternatively, according to one embodiment ofthe invention, a computer system may automatically choose the playerchosen elements for a game player. Because a computer system can bothchoose the player chosen elements and draw the winning elements, aplayer need not configure and attend each game, as discussed furtherbelow.

The predetermined set of elements may be any letter or character,number, symbol, color, logo, shape, drawing or other item that may berepresented. The element may be a letter or character of any one or morelanguages including, but not limited to, English, Russian, Japanese,Chinese or Greek. The element may also be any random combination ofletters or characters including words and phrases. The element may alsobe a number of any language including, but not limited to, English,Chinese or Roman, and the number may be represented by items. Forexample, the number of stars in the cell or the dots on the face of adie or dice. The number may be negative, zero, positive, integer,fraction, decimal, real or imaginary, and in one example, the number ispreferably a positive integer. The element may also be a symbol fromanywhere, such as, for example, astrology, religion, printing andcomputer fonts, road signs, or law. The element may be any colorincluding, but not limited to, black, white or shades of gray. Theelement may also be a logo of a company or product name or trademark.

The winning elements for a game may be randomly drawn by hand or bycomputer system from the predetermined set of elements for the game.When the drawing is by hand, the winning elements may be chosen frompieces of paper drawn out of a hat or drum, by using balls or discs in arotating or air blown sphere, or any other method that can be used fordrawing elements for a keno-type game. The hand-drawn winning elementsmay then be displayed or entered into a computer system. In onepreferred embodiment, the winning element(s) is randomly drawn bycomputer system from the predetermined set of elements for a particulargame.

The game player may view the game proceedings using television, wirelessor line telephone with display, handheld device, kiosk, computer or inperson; depending upon the viewing medium, it may be necessary todownload game information prior to viewing while other viewing mediummay allow viewing of the streamed game information. For example, thegame player may operate a computer system that has an Internet-enabledinterface (e.g., using Macromedia Flash or Java) and the computer systemmay display streamed game information within that interface.

According to one embodiment, a player may purchase one or more gametickets from a vendor as described above. After all the drawn winningelements are drawn for a game, a player may check the ticket for awinning number of matching elements and then inform the game operatorthat the game ticket is a winner. If the game player is playing the gameremotely, for instance over the web or interactive television, or if thegame operator is a computer system, then the player may use e-mail,instant messaging, or other electronic or voice indication method (e.g.,the telephone) to notify the game operator of the winning keno ticket.The game operator would then authenticate and verify the game player andthe winning game ticket. The game operator would then verify that thegame player won by checking the game ticket against the drawn winningelements for the appropriate games. Such methods are well known in theremote and electronic gaming industry.

As stated above, it may also be possible that a game card may be awinner because of not matching the drawn winning elements. For example,in a game with forty drawn winning elements out of a predetermined setof elements containing seventy-five items, a game ticket that has nomatches in a specific game may have a payout equivalent to a game ticketmatching ten out of ten player chosen elements to the forty drawnwinning elements.

During the period of time between the games, a game operator may makeannouncements, rest, or any number of actions. If the game is playedusing a computer system, then advertisements, sponsorships, publicservice announcements or any visual or auditory content may be inserted.The advertisements, etc. may also be inserted into the game displayduring a game.

A game player may also be able to replay or review a past game using avideo device including kiosk, telephone with display, television,computer or handheld device. By accessing the proper game in thecomputer system, a game player may be able to see a past game as itoccurred, the winning tickets and winning game player identity(ies), thedrawn winning elements, or possibly any other aspect of the game ofinterest.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the game, its games,and the game play are partially or fully operated using one or morecomputer systems. A computer system may be a single computer that may bea supercomputer, minicomputer or a mainframe or personal computer. Acomputer system may also be any multiple and combination of computertypes that work together; multiple computer systems may also be neededto run the whole game. The computer system also may include input oroutput devices, displays, or storage units.

A computer system to run the game described above may include one ormore component systems (e.g., system 300 as shown in FIG. 3). One systemmay handle payment, subscription and/or AMOE by players to enter thegames (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4). Another system may handle playing andviewing the game (e.g., as shown in FIG. 6) and the third system mayhandle payouts (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5). The game system may also beconnected by direct line or network to other computer systems includingsystems for handling casino or hotel loyalty programs, reservations,in-room television viewing or gambling floor kiosks. Connections toother computer systems may be performed using one or more of the systemcomponents described below.

A payment component (e.g., system 302) may include one or more of anumber of well-known systems (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4). For example, aplayer may be able to pay to play one or more games using a telephoneand speaking with a call center representative who manually inputsplayer, payment, and subscription information into a computer via a userinterface. In the computer, data may be stored in a data structure thatis stored in a memory of the computer system. As used herein, a “datastructure” is an arrangement of data defined by computer-readablesignals. These signals may be read by a computer system, stored on amedium associated with a computer system (e.g., in a memory, on a disk,etc.) and may be transmitted to one or more other computer systems overa communications medium such as, for example, a network. Also as usedherein, a “user interface” or “UI” is an interface between a human userand a computer that enables communication between a user and a computer.Types of UIs include a graphical user interface (GUI), a display screen,a mouse, a keyboard, a keypad, a track ball, a microphone (e.g., to beused in conjunction with a voice recognition system), a speaker, a touchscreen, a game controller (e.g., a joystick), etc., and any combinationsthereof.

The player information that may be input includes name, address,telephone number, and age. Payment information may include a credit ordebit card number or loyalty account information. Subscriptioninformation may include first game date and time, number of games toplay, number of game pieces per game, and bet per game piece. Based uponthe payment and subscription information, the call center representativewould then verify that the payment information is valid and that enoughcredit or funds is available for the player's desired subscription.

A similar system may exist for players entering using the mail or a postcard AMOE except the call center may be replaced by a mail center havingrepresentatives that enter information into one or more computers via auser interface. For example, a cashier (e.g., at a casino or at alottery agent) for players to pay cash to play, may also have theability to input player, account, and subscription information using auser interface of a computer system.

Computer systems or pay engines for handling electronic or onlinepayment and subscriptions may also be used. Such systems are well knownincluding Paypal and those that run online subscription services likethe Delphion intellectual property website or The Wall Street JournalOnline. Using such a system, a player interacts directly with the userinterface to input information into the payment data structure.

Various pay systems and the various user interfaces may be located onone or more computer systems coupled by a network with the computersystem(s) containing the player, account, and subscription database(s).As used herein, a “network” or a “communications network” is a group oftwo or more devices interconnected by one or more segments oftransmission media on which communications may be exchanged between thedevices. Each segment may be any of a plurality of types of transmissionmedia, including one or more electrical or optical wires or cables madeof metal and/or optical fiber, air (e.g., using wireless transmissionover carrier waves) or any combination of these transmission media.

The above are merely an illustrative embodiment of the pay systemcomponent. Such an illustrative embodiment is not intended to limit thescope of the invention, as any of numerous other implementations of thepay system component, for example, variations of online payment, arepossible and are intended to fall within the scope of the invention. Forexample, the payment system component may include using pay-per-viewsystems associated with interactive television or the pay engine mayadditionally deliver a receipt to the player by either e-mail or mail.None of the claims set forth below are intended to be limited to anyparticular implementation of the pay system component unless such claimincludes a limitation explicitly reciting a particular implementation.

Payout systems (e.g., payout system 304) are also well-known and mayinclude one or more standard systems or payout engines for makingpayouts for winning (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5). For example, a standardapplication programming interface such as ‘Quicken’ (availablecommercially from Intuit Inc., Mountain View, Calif., USA) may be usedto write and mail checks or credit a debit card, credit card (if legalin the jurisdiction of play), or loyalty account. ‘Quicken’ may obtainthe payout information by accessing a payout data structure across anetwork. As used herein, an “application programming interface” or “API”is a set of one or more computer-readable instructions that provideaccess to one or more other sets of computer-readable instructions thatdefine functions, so that such functions can be configured to beexecuted on a computer in conjunction with an application program.

‘Quicken’ is merely an illustrative embodiment of the payout system.Such an illustrative embodiment is not intended to limit the scope ofthe invention, as any of numerous other implementations of the payoutsystem, for example, variations of online payout, are possible and areintended to fall within the scope of the invention. Additionally, acashier may also have access to payout information using a userinterface to the payout data structure through a network; the cashierthen makes a payment to the winning player based upon the accessedinformation. None of the claims set forth below are intended to belimited to any particular implementation of the pay system unless suchclaim includes a limitation explicitly reciting a particularimplementation.

A game playing and viewing system (e.g., system 306) according to oneembodiment of the present invention may comprise of a number ofcomponents for performing specific functions as shown for example inFIG. 6. The components may include, for example, storage components fordata structures for storing game variations, present game sessioninformation, game session history, and win history. A game playing andviewing system may also include components used to access the paymentand payout data structures.

The game playing and viewing system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention also include a game engine. A game engine may performnumerous functions, including drawing winning elements for a game anddisplaying the drawn winning elements through any communication means,including on a call board on the casino floor, over the Internet (e.g.,through a website or internet messaging, or e-mail), or by textmessaging on a cell phone. The game playing and viewing system may alsoreceive communication from players indicating a winning game ticket.Communication may be received using any method, including over theInternet (e.g., through a website, Internet messaging, or e-mail) or bytext messaging on a cell phone.

Acts described above and various embodiments and variations of thesemethods and acts, individually or in combination, may be defined bycomputer-readable signals tangibly embodied on a computer-readablemedium, for example, a non-volatile recording medium, an integratedcircuit memory element, or a combination thereof. Such signals maydefine instructions, for example, as part of one or more programs, that,as a result of being executed by a computer, instruct the computer toperform one or more of the methods or acts described herein, and/orvarious embodiments, variations and combinations thereof. Suchinstructions may be written in any of a plurality of programminglanguages, for example, Java, Visual Basic, C, C#, or C++, Fortran,Pascal, Eiffel, Basic, COBOL, etc., or any of a variety of combinationsthereof. The computer-readable medium on which such instructions arestored may reside on one or more of the components of a general-purposecomputer described above, and may be distributed across one or more ofsuch components.

The computer-readable medium may be transportable such that theinstructions stored thereon can be loaded onto any computer systemresource to implement the aspects of the present invention discussedherein. In addition, it should be appreciated that the instructionsstored on the computer-readable medium, described above, are not limitedto instructions embodied as part of an application program running on ahost computer. Rather, the instructions may be embodied as any type ofcomputer code (e.g., software or microcode) that can be employed toprogram a processor to implement the above-discussed aspects of thepresent invention.

It should be appreciated that any single component or collection ofmultiple components of a computer system, e.g., the computer systemdescribed below in relation to FIG. 1, that performs the functionsdescribed above can be generically considered as one or more controllersthat control the above-discussed functions. The one or more controllerscan be implemented in numerous ways, such as with dedicated hardware, orusing a processor that is programmed using microcode or software toperform the functions recited above.

Another component of the game playing and viewing system may be a driverthat streams video via a broadband, satellite, or wireless medium to auser interface. If the game is played completely automatically, the userinterface may be merely a video terminal including television with nouser input means. Viewing access may be controlled by standard means forconditional access including using set top box addresses, telephonenumbers or Internet protocol (IP) addresses.

The above is merely an illustrative embodiment of a game playing andviewing system. Such an illustrative embodiment is not intended to limitthe scope of the invention, as any of numerous other implementations ofa game playing and viewing system, for example, variations ofconditional access, are possible and are intended to fall within thescope of the invention. None of the claims set forth below are intendedto be limited to any particular implementation of a game playing andviewing system unless such claim includes a limitation explicitlyreciting a particular implementation.

System 300, and components thereof such as the payment, payout, and gameengines, may be implemented using software (e.g., C, C#, C++, Java, or acombination thereof), hardware (e.g., one or more application-specificintegrated circuits, processors or other hardware), firmware (e.g.,electrically-programmed memory), or any combination thereof. One or moreof the components of 300 may reside on a single system (e.g., thepayment subsystem), or one or more components may reside on separate,discrete systems. Further, each component may be distributed acrossmultiple systems, and one or more of the systems may be interconnected.

Further, on each of the one or more systems that include one or morecomponents of 300, each of the components may reside in one or morelocations on the system. For example, different portions of thecomponents of 300 may reside in different areas of memory (e.g., RAM,ROM, disk, etc.) on the system. Each of such one or more systems mayinclude, among other components, a plurality of known components such asone or more processors, a memory system, a disk storage system, one ormore network interfaces, and one or more busses or other internalcommunication links interconnecting the various components.

System 300 may be implemented on a computer system described below inrelation to FIGS. 1 and 2.

System 300 is merely an illustrative embodiment of a game system. Suchan illustrative embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of theinvention, as any of numerous other implementations of the game system,for example, variations of 300, are possible and are intended to fallwithin the scope of the invention. For example, a parallel system forviewing by interactive television may include one or more additionalvideo streamers specific for interactive television. None of the claimsset forth below are intended to be limited to any particularimplementation of the game system unless such claim includes alimitation explicitly reciting a particular implementation.

Various embodiments according to the invention may be implemented on oneor more computer systems. These computer systems may be, for example,general-purpose computers such as those based on Intel PENTIUM-typeprocessor, Motorola PowerPC, Sun UltraSPARC, Hewlett-Packard PA-RISCprocessors, or any other type of processor. It should be appreciatedthat one or more of any type computer system may be used to partially orfully automate play of the described game according to variousembodiments of the invention. Further, the software design system may belocated on a single computer or may be distributed among a plurality ofcomputers attached by a communications network.

A general-purpose computer system according to one embodiment of theinvention is configured to perform any of the described game functionsincluding but not limited to player subscription or payment, playerchosen elements or elements chosen for the player, drawing winningelements, and communicating with, verifying, and paying winners. Itshould be appreciated that the system may perform other functions,including network communication, and the invention is not limited tohaving any particular function or set of functions.

For example, various aspects of the invention may be implemented asspecialized software executing in a general-purpose computer system 400such as that shown in FIG. 1. The computer system 400 may include aprocessor 403 connected to one or more memory devices 404, such as adisk drive, memory, or other device for storing data. Memory 404 istypically used for storing programs and data during operation of thecomputer system 400. Components of computer system 400 may be coupled byan interconnection mechanism 405, which may include one or more busses(e.g., between components that are integrated within a same machine)and/or a network (e.g., between components that reside on separatediscrete machines). The interconnection mechanism 405 enablescommunications (e.g., data, instructions) to be exchanged between systemcomponents of system 400. Computer system 400 also includes one or moreinput devices 402, for example, a keyboard, mouse, trackball,microphone, touch screen, and one or more output devices 401, e.g., aprinting device, display screen, or speaker. In addition, computersystem 400 may contain one or more interfaces (not shown) that connectcomputer system 400 to a communication network in addition or as analternative to the interconnection mechanism 405.

The storage system 406, shown in greater detail in FIG. 2, typicallyincludes a computer readable and writeable nonvolatile recording medium501 in which signals are stored that define a program to be executed bythe processor or information stored on or in the medium 501 to beprocessed by the program. The medium may, for example, be a disk orflash memory. Typically, in operation, the processor causes data to beread from the nonvolatile recording medium 501 into another memory 502that allows for faster access to the information by the processor thandoes the medium 501. This memory 502 is typically a volatile, randomaccess memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or staticmemory (SRAM). It may be located in storage system 406, as shown, or inmemory system 404, not shown. The processor 403 generally manipulatesthe data within the integrated circuit memory 404 and 502 and thencopies the data to the medium 501 after processing is completed. Avariety of mechanisms are known for managing data movement between themedium 501 and the integrated circuit memory element 404 and 502, andthe invention is not limited thereto. The invention is not limited to aparticular memory system 404 or storage system 406.

The computer system may include specially-programmed, special-purposehardware, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC). Aspects of the invention may be implemented in software,hardware or firmware, or any combination thereof. Further, such methods,acts, systems, system elements and components thereof may be implementedas part of the computer system described above or as an independentcomponent.

Although computer system 400 is shown by way of example as one type ofcomputer system upon which various aspects of the invention may bepracticed, it should be appreciated that aspects of the invention arenot limited to being implemented on the computer system as shown inFIG. 1. It should be appreciated that various aspects of the inventionmay be practiced on one or more computers having a differentarchitecture or components than that shown in FIG. 1.

Computer system 400 may be a general-purpose computer system that isprogrammable using a high-level computer programming language. Computersystem 400 may be also implemented using specially programmed, specialpurpose hardware. In computer system 400, processor 403 is typically acommercially available processor such as the well-known Pentium classprocessor available from the Intel Corporation. Many other processorsare available. Such a processor usually executes an operating systemwhich may be, for example, the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,Windows 2000 (Windows ME) or Windows XP operating systems available fromthe Microsoft Corporation, MAC OS System X available from AppleComputer, the Solaris Operating System available from Sun Microsystems,or UNIX available from various sources. Many other operating systems maybe used.

The processor and operating system together define a computer platformfor which application programs in high-level programming languages arewritten. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to aparticular computer system platform, processor, operating system, ornetwork. Also, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe present invention is not limited to a specific programming languageor computer system. Further, it should be appreciated that otherappropriate programming languages and other appropriate computer systemscould also be used.

One or more portions of the computer system may be distributed acrossone or more computer systems (not shown) coupled to a communicationsnetwork. These computer systems also may be general-purpose computersystems. For example, various aspects of the invention may bedistributed among one or more computer systems configured to provide aservice (e.g., servers) to one or more client computers, or to performan overall task as part of a distributed system. For example, variousaspects of the invention may be performed on a client-server system thatincludes components distributed among one or more server systems thatperform various functions according to various embodiments of theinvention. These components may be executable, intermediate (e.g., IL),or interpreted (e.g., Java) code which communicate over a communicationnetwork (e.g., the Internet) using a communication protocol (e.g.,TCP/IP).

It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to executingon any particular system or group of systems. Also, it should beappreciated that the invention is not limited to any particulardistributed architecture, network, or communication protocol.

Various embodiments of the present invention may be programmed using anobject-oriented programming language, such as SmallTalk, Java, C++, Ada,or C# (C-Sharp). Other object-oriented programming languages may also beused. Alternatively, functional, scripting, and/or logical programminglanguages may be used. Various aspects of the invention may beimplemented in a non-programmed environment (e.g., documents created inHTML, XML, or other format that, when viewed in a window of a browserprogram, render aspects of a graphical-user interface (GUI) or performother functions). Various aspects of the invention may be implemented asprogrammed or non-programmed elements, or any combination thereof.

Having now described some illustrative embodiments of the invention, itshould be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing ismerely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way ofexample only. Numerous modifications and other illustrative embodimentsare within the scope of one of ordinary skill in the art and arecontemplated as falling within the scope of the invention. Inparticular, although many of the examples presented herein involvespecific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should beunderstood that those acts and those elements may be combined in otherways to accomplish the same objectives. Acts, elements and featuresdiscussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to beexcluded from a similar role in other embodiments. Further, for the oneor more means-plus-function limitations recited in the following claims,the means are not intended to be limited to the means disclosed hereinfor performing the recited function, but are intended to cover in scopeany means, known now or later developed, for performing the recitedfunction.

As used herein, whether in the written description or the claims, theterms “comprising”, “including”, “carrying”, “having”, “containing”,“involving”, and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e.,to mean including but not limited to. Only the transitional phrases“consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”, respectively, shall beclosed or semi-closed transitional phrases, as set forth, with respectto claims, in the United States Patent Office Manual of Patent ExaminingProcedures (Original Eighth Edition, August 2001), Section 2111.03.

Use of ordinal terms such as “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in theclaims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote anypriority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or thetemporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are usedmerely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain namefrom another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinalterm) to distinguish the claim elements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-level game of chance for a plurality ofplayers conducted via at least one computer, the game of chancecomprising: a plurality of levels provided via the computer, theplurality of levels comprising a first level, at least one intermediatelevel, and a final level, each level above the first level comprising aplurality of winning tiers and at least one losing tier, wherein playersin the winning tiers advance to a next level; and a plurality of games,wherein each level comprises one of the plurality of games provided viathe computer, wherein at least two different games are providedthroughout the plurality of levels via the computer, wherein the atleast two different games are provided in separate levels of theplurality of levels and are not the same game, wherein for each of thegames, the computer determines if the player obtains one of a pluralityof winning outcomes, wherein if the player obtains one of the pluralityof winning outcomes, the computer places the player into one of thewinning tiers, wherein the computer determines which winning tier theplayer is placed into by segregating the player from the plurality ofplayers based on at least one type of winning outcome, wherein once theplayer is placed in the winning tier, the player must play the nextlevel; and wherein at least one of the plurality of levels includes morethan one way to win the level as determined via the at least onecomputer.
 2. A game of chance according to claim 1, wherein theplurality of games are a combination of two or more of the groupcomprising of keno, bingo, UK bingo, and baccarat.
 3. A game of chanceaccording to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of levels has thesame payout table.
 4. A game of chance according to claim 1, wherein atleast one of the plurality of levels has a different payout table than afirst level.
 5. A game of chance according to claim 1, wherein at leastone of the plurality of levels has multiple payout tables.
 6. A game ofchance according to claim 1, wherein a number of the plurality of levelsis predetermined.
 7. A game of chance according to claim 1, whereinwinners of a top winning tier in the final level can win at least one ofthe group of a standard, a progressive, and a rolling jackpot.
 8. A gameof chance according to claim 7, wherein winners of the top winning tierin the final level must win a final drawing to win the at least one ofthe group comprising the standard, the progressive, and the rollingjackpot.
 9. A game of chance according to claim 1, wherein only one betat the start of the game is needed to play.
 10. A game of chanceaccording to claim 1, wherein winnings of the game of chance are paidout after each level.
 11. A game of chance according to claim 1, whereinwinnings of the game of chance are paid out only after the final level.12. The game according to claim 1, wherein the player may enter into thegame of chance after the first level of the plurality of levels bypaying a bet greater than an initial bet to play the first level. 13.The game according to claim 1, wherein the player may enter into thegame of chance after the first level of the plurality of levels bypaying a bet greater than a sum of an initial bet plus any fees or betsrequired to play any subsequently played levels to get to a level beingentered.
 14. The game according to claim 1, wherein odds of winningdecrease as a level of the plurality of levels increases.
 15. The gameaccording to claim 1, wherein the individual payout is increased as alevel of the plurality of levels increases.
 16. A game of chanceaccording to claim 1, further comprising determining a plurality ofwinners, wherein the winners are segregated into the plurality ofwinning tiers based upon the winners' winning outcome.
 17. A game ofchance according to claim 16, wherein the winners proceed to the nextlevel as a group for each winning tier.
 18. A game of chance accordingto claim 16, wherein each winning tier is provided a different payouttable in the next level.
 19. A method for operating a game of chance fora plurality of players, the game of chance comprising: providing for theplurality of players a plurality of levels via a processor, theplurality of levels comprising at a first level, at least oneintermediate level, and a final level, each level above the first levelcomprising a plurality of winning tiers and at least one losing tier,wherein players in the winning tiers advance to a next level; providing,via the processor, a game at each of the plurality of levels provided bythe processor to a player, wherein at least two different games areprovided in separate levels of the plurality of levels and are not thesame game; determining at least one winner via the processor, whereinthe winner obtains one of a plurality of winning outcomes; placing thewinner into one of the plurality of winning tiers via the processor,wherein the processor determines which winning tier the winner is placedinto by segregating the winner from the plurality of players based on atleast one type of winning outcome, wherein the winner in one level mustplay a next level; and providing that at least one of the plurality oflevels includes more than one way to win the level.